Bad vaginas

Soon, women with vaginal piercings could be classified as being victims of FGM, according to the department of health. This means that consenting adult women will be viewed as victims of a crime, and their piercer could be deemed liable for criminal investigation under new FGM legislation.

This action not only undermines the sufferings of real victims of FGM, but also treats all consenting adult women as juveniles, unable to make their own clear life choices. This is unlike men, who seemingly get to poke holes in whichever body-part they so choose.

It seems redundant to have to mention that many women, and men, find piercings attractive and chose to get them for aesthetic reasons. Comparing this freedom of choice to the forced mutilation of young girls and women’s vaginas is both incredibly offensive and utterly ridiculous.

There is currently a great cause for concern in Britain regarding FGM, and legislation is needed to protect young women from abuse. However, this political decision is yet another example of why we need more women in politics – to prevent men from making decisions that only effect women.

It might seem strange, to speak up for a woman’s right to pierce her vagina, however these perhaps small gender divides paint a much larger social picture.

Many people have also criticised the outcry after female ejaculation was banned in porn: ‘The legislation protects women, so women should be grateful’, except it doesn’t protect women – it controls women.

The law actually just reeked of the old ‘female orgasm’ myth, where women were told that they couldn’t enjoy sex the same as men. It also said that our genitals are offensive, and shouldn’t be seen to be having fun, not even in porn.

Now don’t get my wrong, porn is not celebrated for it’s treatment of women. However, there are other (more efficient) ways of protecting women from being taken advantage of in porn, such as ethical and ‘fair-trade’ sites, like Dreams of Spanking DO NOT ENTER UNLESS OVER 18.

What this ‘protective legislation’ really does, is reaffirm patriarchal belief systems of how vaginas should look, act and behave. It says that no self-respecting woman would dream of watching, or least of all starring in porn, despite the fact that 1/3 of all viewers are now women.

Many of us have witnessed the different ways in which men and women are treated in regards to sex – it is socially desirable for men to have many sexual partners, whereas women who simply confess to enjoying sex are labelled as ‘sluts’ or ‘whores’.

By forcing the perpetuation of these social ideals, which center around respectability and ‘lady-like’ behaviours, the men in charge are able to maintain a sort of ownership over our bodies, all in the name of ‘protection’.

In actual fact, no one should be able to make decisions that effect our bodies, except ourselves. This includes the barbaric FGM abusers that mutilate women’s bodies, and also those who enforce this patriarchal system, and write the laws and legislations that dictate what women can do with their bodies.

All both party’s actually serve to protect and ensure is the virginity of women. Though our political system’s strategy is a lot less invasive than FGM, it still acts to enforce this idea of purity and innocence, which ultimately make us ideal candidates for wives.

But what do you think? Does this new FGM legislation protect or control women? Write a comment below or join the discussion on Facebook or Twitter.